It runs in the family
by SatAMNerd15
Summary: One night in Knothole, A mysterious figure steals away a young fox in the night. Sonic and Sally believe it's just some lowlife, but they're in for a big surprise. I got my first review and it was a good one : D thanks. Please keep them coming.


Fan Fiction based on Sonic the hedgehog SaTam (Although some parts aren't based on SatAM, like my story about how Tails met the freedom fighters. But since Archie has already taken the storyline too far I figured 'who cares?')

Characters used: Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, Robotnik, Tails and others. Martin Breezer was thought of by me, so he's my property. So, I claim all rights or something. I wouldn't know because most people steal other people's characters without permission anyway.

It runs in the family.

"The End. Good night Tails."

Sally bid goodnight to the young fox with a kiss on the cheek and a stroke of the fur on his forehead as she usually did. She then smiled at him as she walked out of the room. No matter how stressed she got with her constant mission against Robotnik, Sally somehow always found time to tuck Tails in every night. It had been like a reflex for her for years. Ever since he had started calling her Aunt Sally.

As Tails stared at the ceiling of his room, he thought about all he had been through. He had no memories of his parents. In fact his earliest memory was Rosie, Sally and Sonic gathered around him. He figured that this was when he had first been brought to Knothole. What he liked most about this memory was their smiles. He remembered crying until he looked up and saw them smiling. As far as he could remember the freedom fighters were the only family he had known.

Nobody knew anything about the identity of Tails' real family. The most anyone knew about Tails before Sonic had found him was that he had once lived in a village that had been destroyed by Robotnik. Since Tails had only been a baby when Sonic had found him, Tails wasn't even sure of this himself.

Whenever the topic of who Tails' real parents were came up, Tails would often retreat to his room and lock the door. Although he knew that he was probably orphaned because of Robotnik, Tails often became angry at himself. He sometimes believed that his parents had abandoned him on purpose because they didn't want him. It would usually take days for Sonic and the others to calm him down whenever this idea came into his head.

It wasn't like Tails was the only person in Knothole who didn't know what had happened to his family. After all, each of the core freedom fighters had been separated from their parents at a young age. It was just that Tails had never even had the chance to live on a peaceful Mobius. Each of the freedom fighters had known what it felt like to be a normal kid living in Mobotropolis, but Knothole and the war with Robotnik were all that Tails had ever known. The few children in Knothole who still had their parents often picked on him for this. Even with the war on they knew what it felt like to be normal kids. Tails would complain to Sonic about the other kids often, but he would always end up saying the same laid back response.

"They're just jealous because you've got the most way past cool hedgehog on Mobius for a big brother."

This always somehow managed to cheer Tails up. No matter how much he had been through, Sonic had always been there for him. He had been both a brother and a father to Tails for as long as he could remember. If the other kids couldn't see that, it was their problem.

Just as he was about to drift into a long sleep, Tails felt someone grab him from behind and pull him right out of his bedroom window. It had caught Tails completely by surprise, yet somehow he managed to find enough breath to try and call for help.

"Help! Aunt Sally Hel..."

Before Tails could finish his cry of distress, the figure gagged him and pulled him towards the Great forest. No matter how much Tails tried to scream, the figure said nothing. Tails was helpless as he was dragged into the unknown.

The forest floor was full of sharp thorns and twigs. Tails soon had cuts all over him. Some of them cut much deeper than others and Tails soon felt pain all over his body. Just as a huge one scraped up his arm, the figure pulled Tails over his shoulders. Somehow, Tails managed to get some comfort in the fact that the figure didn't seem to want tails seriously hurt. But his comfort was soon drowned out by the young fox's fear. So much so in fact that Tails didn't notice that he had emptied his bladder all over the floor.

After about half an hour of running through the woods, the figure stopped. He made sure nobody was nearby, and then placed Tails on the floor.

The young fox couldn't help but quiver in fear as he thought about what the figure might do to him now. Would Sonic come here looking for him and find a motionless corpse next to a pool of blood? The figure looked down at the terrified fox, and then placed his hand on the young fox's shoulders.

"There's no need to be afraid. I'm here to rescue you. But I need you to calm down."

The figure bent down and removed Tail's gag.

Tails was so caught up in fear that he hadn't even thought to himself that the cloaked figure could speak. But once he regained his stability, anger welled up inside of him. He had just been kidnapped by a complete stranger and now he was being told to calm down!

"Who are you? I'm warning you! Sonic and my Aunt Sally will come looking for me!"

Suddenly the figure froze. He looked around. "Oh no."

Tails thought that he had managed to scare the figure by threatening to get Sonic to teach him a lesson, but he could soon see that the figure hadn't paid any attention to the fox's threat. The figure was looking around because he was sensing immediate danger.

"What do you mean oh no?" Tails asked as he looked around to see what the fuss was about.

"Can't you hear it? Something is coming towards us and from the sound of it…….. Swat bots! We need to leave! Quickly!"

The figure quickly grabbed Tails again and prepared to resume his escape. Tails of course, knew he had nothing to worry about. He could only hear one pair of robotic feet moving towards him and his kidnapper and Swat bots hardly ever entered the Great forest alone. That meant that there was only one person who could be coming towards them.

"Help! I'm over here!"

"Are you completely insane?!?! If they here us they will ki……"

But the stranger had no time to complete his sentence. For while he had been worrying a certain friend of Tails had been hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike. And when this friend of Tails leaped out from behind the trees and knocked the figure out cold, Tails couldn't believe how relieved he was.

"Help! Aunt Sally Hel…….."

Sally was at the door of her hut when she heard this. She had just finished putting Tails to bed. What could possibly be bothering him? Sonic was already asleep in their hut and she couldn't wait to join him after such a hard days work. But one of the most important things she had learned anything from Rosie and Julayla it was that one's responsibilities always come first. Even though she wasn't Tails real mother or even his adopted mother, Sally thought of herself as a kind of permanent babysitter for the young fox. That meant that it was her responsibility to look after him if he needed help.

She quickly ran back the way she came. She figured that it was probably just a spider or something that had scared Tails. Was Tails afraid of spiders? Whatever it was, she had to take care of it and make sure that Tails got to sleep. She opened Tails' door and headed into his room.

"Ok Tails what is it now?"

All she saw was an empty bed and an open window.

"Hahaha, very funny Tails. Where are you?"

There was no response.

"Hmmmmm. I guess he wants me to try and find him. Ok then Tails, I'll play your game. Ready or not, here I come!"

Sally began searching the room. She tried everywhere she could think of for Tails hiding place, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Tails?"

It was then that something caught Sally's eye. She looked over to Tails window and found that his quilt was hanging out of it. Tails wasn't in the room. She looked out of the window to the ground. She could see footprints on the ground, but they weren't Tails' footprints. They were adult size. Tails was gone.

"Tails!"

Sally had thought it was all a game! Tails could be lying dead in the middle of the forest by now!

Just then, the half robot freedom fighter Bunnie Rabbot entered the room. She stared confused at the empty bed.

"Ummm, ya did remember ta tuck Tails in tonight didn't ya Sally girl?"

Sally turned to Bunnie as she ran out of the hut.

"Tails is gone Bunnie! Come quickly!"

The two friends ran to the outside of Tails' window. They were in luck as the footprints that the intruder had left were a clear trail to follow. Bunnie turned to her friend.

"Listen Sally girl. Ah'll go and find Tails. Ah'll probably have a better chance against the guy that took him when ah find him anyway. You go get Sonic and the others."

Sally nodded and ran to activate the Knothole warning siren.

Bunnie's incentive to find Tails' kidnapper made her run at a pace that made her feel like she could catch up with sonic if she tried. Of course it would be impossible for her to do something like that, but it was still relaxing for her to think about it.

As she gazed at the trail through the broken thorns and twigs, she could only imagine how scared Tails must have been. Then suddenly, the trail stopped. Bunnie gazed deeply at the forest floor.

"What the? Where's Tails?"

She desperately searched for another sign of the fox's whereabouts. Then, as she was searching, she slipped and hit the ground with a thump.

"Ah! What the he…"

Bunnie stared at what had caused her to fall. It looked like trail of urine, which continued through the forest.

"The Little guy must be more scared than ah thought."

Making sure she had her mouth covered to block the smell, she followed the new trail.

It didn't take her long to reach Tails and his kidnapper. The kidnapper looked completely focused on the young fox as he sat quivering on the ground. This was a good sign. All she needed to do was to position herself just right and then the intruder would have nowhere to hide. A devious smile grew on Bunnie's face as she thought about how much pain she would give to the kidnapper as payment for what he had done.

Suddenly, she saw the figure freeze on the spot. He then looked around. He must have heard her coming!

"Mah darn metal legs got me inta trouble again!"

Luckily for her, the kidnapper had no idea there was a half robotisized Mobian living in the Great forest. It was obvious that he thought that the sound had come from a group of Swat bots. Bunnie became relieved that she still had the element of surprise on her side.

"Can't you hear it? Something is coming towards us and from the sound of it…….. Swat bots! We need to leave! Quickly!"

That was all the time Bunnie needed to get into position. As she readied herself, she noticed the look on Tails' face.

"That little fox is smarter than ah thought."

Tails shouted at the top of his voice.

"Help! I'm over here!"

"Are you completely insane?!?!? If they find us they'll ki….."

But the stranger had no time to complete his sentence. Because Bunnie had already leapt from behind the trees and knocked him out cold. As the figure hit the floor, Bunnie ran over to Tails and hugged him.

"Tails! Ahm so glad you're safe!"

As Bunnie felt Tails silently weeping into her fur, she couldn't believe how relieved she was.

It was about midnight in Knothole village as an angry crowd of freedom fighters glared at the unwelcome intruder that Bunnie was carrying to the infirmary. Even Snivley hadn't had to take this hatred from so many people when he had been brought to Knothole. Behind the crowds, Sonic and Tails were waiting to see what would happen.

"Are you sure that you're ok Big Guy?"

"Yeah Sonic. I'm fine."

After hearing what had happened from Sally, Sonic had become completely enraged. Now that Tails was safe, his rage was replaced by sympathy for the poor fox. Quickly, he picked Tails up and held him in his arms.

"I think its time you went back to bed Big guy."

Tails obviously felt comfortable with the idea of returning to bed, since he half closed his eyelids as he gave out a huge yawn.

"Ok Sonic."

Tails was asleep even before he was back in his hut. Sonic silently chuckled as he placed the young cub back into his bed and pulled the quilt over him. Seeing his job was done, Sonic ran as fast as he could to the infirmary to see if the stranger had awoken. Sonic couldn't wait to give the stranger a piece of his mind!

It was just after nine o'clock the next morning that the figure awoke to find him chained to a hospital bed. He had a throbbing headache from where he had been struck the previous night.

"Ughhhh. What happened?"

With his reply, the figure got a slap across the face from one of the teenagers he could see around his bed.

"We caught up with you! That's what happened!"

At the foot of his bed the figure could see a squirrel, a blue hedgehog and a walrus. By the looks of things, they were all very angry with him. The blue hedgehog was the first to speak his mind.

"Listen you! You've got five seconds to tell us why we shouldn't hand you over to Robotnik's Swat bots."

Sonic wasn't usually violent towards anyone. Sure he could be over confident, rude, hot headed and cocky, but he saved violence for Robotnik and his Swat bots. But this was different. This guy had threatened Tails.

"Ummm, because they'd probably turn on you and attack you if you tried to hand me over while I'd just fly away?"

"What are you talking about? Tails is the only fox I've ever met who can fly!"

"How did you know I was a fox? Oh."

The figure stared down to find the cloak he had hidden himself with completely gone. They must have taken it from him while he was asleep. Without his cloak on, the three freedom fighters could see a late adolescent fox. Probably not much younger than 20 years old. He wore large, brown boots and a huge belt around his waist. Hanging from the belt was all manner of tools and equipment.

"Answer me!"

"Well…….. I can fly because I have two tails instead of one."

Everyone's jaws hit the floor.

"What? Tails is the only person I've ever met with two tails!"

The fox shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I guess it just runs in the family."

The hedgehog shook the stranger and continually banged his head against the wall.

"That kid has been through a lot! So if you're trying to mess us around then you're dead!"

"Stop (bang) hitting (bang) my (bang) head (bang) against (bang) the (bang) wall (bang) so (bang) I (bang) can (bang) explain……"

Now, it was the stranger's turn to be surprised. He stared at the squirrel at the foot of his bed, he had only just noticed her squirrel's face. She looked exactly like the queen! This could only mean one thing.

"Are you Sally Alicia Acorn? I thought you got killed by Robotnik!"

Sally gasped. Nobody ever called her by her full name. She stared at the fox. He did look a little like Tails, but she had to be sure.

"I think you should tell us your story. If we don't believe you, Sonic can do whatever he wants with you."

The stranger sighed.

"Sit down. It's a long story. You see, like you guys I used to have a normal life. That was until Robotnik took over. Before he started capturing civilians and robotisizing them, a gang of refugees took me with them when they fled to the great unknown. When they got there they built their own village. I spent the rest of my childhood there. It was so far out into the desert that Robotnik would have been stupid to come and look for us. But he didn't need to."

"What do you mean?"

Sally didn't know what to think. Tails had been kidnapped by a complete stranger and now she had found out that other refugees had escaped from Robotnik!

"Well, have you ever heard of the sand inferno?"

It was finally Rotor's turn to speak.

"The sand inferno? Are you serious? That only happens once every century! What happened to you?"

The fox stared at Rotor. He seemed happy that at least someone knew what he was talking about.

"Well, like the name suggests, the heat of the desert caused huge fires. Nobody could put them out with the little water we had. And then one day, a huge tornado of fire seemed to appear out of thin air! Almost all of the people in my village were killed."

Sonic wasn't in the mood for sympathy.

"That doesn't explain why you kidnapped Tails! And what did you mean when you said that having two tails runs in the family?"

"I'll get to that point soon enough hedgehog! Anyway, after seeing how dangerous the desert could be, a lot of us decided to leave and head for somewhere better. I decided to head south towards the Great forest. Everyone else headed north towards the ocean."

"So why did you decide to leave your friends?" Sally asked.

"Well, at the time of the takeover I was only in Mobotropolis on a school trip. At the time my home was in a small village with my mum, dad, and sister. When I left on the trip my sister was grown up and she had a husband. After the takeover, I managed to keep contact with my sister from my home in the desert. About two years later I got a letter from her that said she was pregnant. Then my village was destroyed so I decided to move back to my old village. When I came back to the Great forest I hoped they might still be alive; but I found the village in ruins."

After hearing about the fox's story, Sally's sympathy finally gave way.

"I'm sorry."

The fox sighed.

"It's ok. Anyway, I decided to look around the ruins of my sister's old house. When I saw all the baby stuff they had kept there, I figured that the delivery must have been a success. Amongst the ruins I found this."

He reached into the fur on one of his tails and pulled out a locket. Everyone seemed to be more surprised with the fact that his tail was bushy enough to be used for storage.

"It's a locket I found where their bedroom used to be. It has a picture of my sister and her husband inside it. But they have someone else with them. A baby."

"And I'm guessing that baby is Tails?" Sally asked.

The stranger glared at the squirrel.

"Why do you keep calling him Tails? It has an inscription that says his real name! See?"

The stranger held part of the locket close to the light. It did indeed have an inscription. It read,' For Miles.'

Sally sighed.

"Look, it's just a nick name that we use because he hates his real name. Now finish the story."

"Well, since then I've been living in the Great forest. Then, about a week ago I saw s young fox and some coyote. That's when I realised that I had found my nephew. When I saw the coyote yelling at the little guy, I guessed that you guys must have been keeping him here against his will, so I decided to get him out. All I needed to do was find your village. That wasn't hard since the coyote was so bad at covering his tracks. Then, last night I executed my plan."

Sonic was more angry at Antoine than anything else

"Where does Antoine get off yelling at Tails? The little guy's ten for God's sake!"

"Well actually ze Tails was laughing at my accent."

Antoine had just entered the room with Bunnie. Antoine eyed the stranger and turned away in disgust. No matter how bad he was at showing how much he liked the other freedom fighters, he still felt he had a small bond with each of them. Tails was no different.

Bunnie eyed the stranger.

"It was dark last night, so ah didn't get a good look at the face. Is that the guy that took Tails?"

Sally nodded. Nobody dared to try to restrain Bunnie as she snapped the chain that tied the stranger to the bed and lifted him into the air by his neck.

"Give me one good reason why ah shouldn't rip ya arms off! Then Ah'd like to see ya kidnap little kids in the night!"

No matter how afraid they were of Bunnie when she was angry, nobody wanted the stranger harmed. Especially if he was related to Tails.

"Bunnie! Stop!" Sally shouted.

Bunnie gasped. She almost dropped the fox in surprise.

"Why should ah do that?"

"Because that guy says that he's Tails' uncle!"

In all the commotion, nobody had noticed Tails come in. He just wanted to see how everyone was, since he had slept in and had not had a chance to say his usual good mornings. So when, he heard Sally say what she said, he nearly collapsed.

"What? Aunt Sally what are you talking about?"

Sally gasped. She ran to comfort the young fox.

"Tails! When did you get here?"

Without a responding, Tails ran out of the infirmary towards his hut and slammed the door. Bunnie sighed and shook her head.

"Things just aint been going right for that little guy lately have they Sally girl."

"Tails? Tails please come out!"

There was no response. Although Sally could swear she could hear crying.

"Tails?"

"Go away!"

Sally thought to herself.

"He must have gotten that stubbornness from Sonic!"

She walked away, knowing that she wouldn't get anywhere if she kept asking him to come out. She would give Tails a chance to get his head together before she tried again. Seeing his chance, the stranger approached the hut.

"Miles? Miles are you in there?"

The crying stopped.

"Who are you?"

"Miles I'm……… Miles I'm your Uncle."

The door swung open.

"What did you say?"

"I'm your Uncle. I'm sure that there's a lot of stuff you want to talk about. Can I come in?"

"NO!!!!"

Tails slammed the door again. Unfortunately for his 'uncle' it hit him hard in the nose.

"Arghh!"

There was only more silence. From what he had heard from the freedom fighters, Tails was supposed to be an innocent, caring person. He had at least expected him to come out and apologise.

"Listen Miles, I can see why you're not exactly happy that I just showed up out of the blue, but we may be the last family that either of us has left!"

"My name's not Miles! It's Tails!"

"Wow. The princess was right." He thought. "He really does hate his real name."

The stranger took out the locket and hung it over Tails' door handle.

"I don't think I'm going anywhere for a few days. If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me!"

At that, the stranger walked off. As he was about to go and find Sally so he could ask about living arrangements, he heard Tails shouting after him. He had found the locket and opened it.

"Wait!"

The stranger turned around to find Tails running towards him.

"What's your name?" the young fox asked.

The stranger smiled. He had at least gotten Tails' attention. Now all he had to do was make sure he didn't mess up their first conversation. Since he knew he'd already made a bad first impression.

"It's Martin. Martin Breezer."

Tails' gasped.

"Breezer? So you are lying! You can't be my uncle because my last name's Prower!"

Martin laughed. He hadn't spoken to a child in a long time.

"Well, you got your name from your father's family. I got mine from your mother's family. Before she got married it was her last name too."

Tails longingly stared into Martin's eyes, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of the stranger's memories of Tails' mother.

"What was she like?"

"Heh heh. She was kind to and always cared about her friends and family. She would do anything to protect them even if it meant sacrificing herself."

Tails began to cry again. As if the fur under his eyes wasn't wet enough already.

"Do you think that's why…………. You know."

"Probably. I'll bet your parents really loved you when you were born. In fact, here."

Martin reached into the fur of his tail and pulled out an envelope.

"This was the last letter they sent to me before I left the desert."

Once he had handed Tails the letter, Martin walked off to find Sally. Tails couldn't help but just stand in silence as he gazed at the envelope. It seemed like forever until his legs allowed him to walk back to his hut to read it.

"Ow!"

Tails had decided to 'borrow' Sally's letter opener. But he kept accidentally scratching himself with the blade. Finally, after continual failures, he got the envelope open. The letter read:

_Dear Little bro,_

_He finally came! It's official! I'm a mother. I guess that makes you an uncle huh? I have to admit that he's a lot cuter than you were! We decided to call him Miles. I hope he likes the name. What if he doesn't? What kind of mother would I be if my son grows up with a name he hates? Oh what am I worrying about? I just keep calling him sweetheart anyway!_

_We had our picture taken with him after he was born. He looks adorable in the clothes you sent for him from the desert! We'll be sure to send you a copy of the photo, but we decided to place the original picture in a locket that we'll give to him when he's a little older. We're afraid that he might choke on it or something if we give it to him now._

_You have to come and visit us as soon as you can! I'm sure that he'd really like to meet his uncle Martin. Did you know he actually giggles whenever we mention you? Maybe he thinks your name is stupid too. Just kidding. Maybe we should come and visit you! Do you think you would have enough there's enough room in that big old desert for an infant and his parents? I'll tell you now, looking after a baby is a lot harder than I thought it would be. And I thought it would be hard to start with!_

_Mum and Dad have really taken to him as well. They gave him loads of presents when we showed him to them. Although I think he was a little uncomfortable in the knitted clothes that mum made for him. He just kept scratching. I hope he doesn't get eczema. Mum and Dad just kept insisting that they could look after him for a night or two if we got tired, but I think we'll be just fine. We just never get tired of the little guy! If you don't come and see him soon, I'll never forgive you!_

_Please write back as soon as you can. I know you play an important part in your village, but is that really as important as meeting your first nephew? Wait! What am I saying? I'm not hinting that we'll be having any more kids (yet). And don't think I'm being selfish by trying to make you come back. It's just that I really wish the whole family was here again. Please try to visit us as soon as you can!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Your big sis!_

Tails couldn't stand how happy his mother sounded. He wondered how long it would be after she wrote the letter before…………

"Excuse me! Princess!"

Martin had only just caught up with the princess. After his encounter with Tails, it had taken him half an hour to find her.

"Oh. Hi………. Wait what was your name again?"

"Oh. Sorry I never told you. It's Martin."

"Martin? It sounds almost as bad as Miles!"

Martin couldn't help but blush. Sally noticed that when people made fun of his name his facial expression was exactly the same as Tails' was!

"Anyway, I was wondering if you guys had room for me. I managed to get a chance to talk with Tails and I think I got through to him. Would it be ok if I stayed with you guys for a while?"

Sally thought to herself. She didn't trust Martin. He had attempted kidnapping and he was already asking to move in. but she decided it was best to take a chance on this one. For Tails' sake.

"Well we don't have that much room. All of the huts are taken, so if you want to stay you'll have to find a room mate."

"Know anyone who might have room?"

"Well, I don't think that you should ask Tails. I don't think you should rush things with him. I think Antoine might have room though."

Martin hadn't forgotten about Antoine yelling at his nephew. He wasn't in the mood to make friends with some stuck up coyote. But if these people were willing to take him in, he didn't really have a choice.

"Ok, I'll ask him. Do you think that I could maybe start building my own hut while I stay with him?"

Sally had always had trouble finding people to build extra huts. The freedom fighters could be skilled with mechanics, computers, cooking, textiles and other jobs, but hardly any of them knew a thing about architecture.

"Are you qualified?"

"Sure. My dad designed all of the buildings in the village where I used to live and he taught me everything he knew."

"Well then, all you have to do is choose a spot and by all means you can build a hut."

This lightened Martin's opinion of the situation a little. Even if he had to share a room with Antoine, he had always loved a new chance to build a new building. Even when he was little he had been inseparable from his building blocks when he was hard at work.

"Thanks Sally. I promise I'll repay you guys."

"If you want to repay us, tell Tails whatever he wants to know."

This wasn't hard to agree on. Martin already had every intention of telling Tails what he wanted to know. He also hoped he could he hear about Tails' life with the freedom fighters. If he was convinced that Tails was happy here, maybe he would ask if he could stay permanently.

"Sure. Maybe if I have some free time I could even remodel some of the older buildings around here."

"Why not? Anyway, good luck with Antoine! I need to go and sort some things out with Sonic and Rotor. See ya."

"Bye Sally!"

As he went off to find Antoine, Martin thought to himself. He was glad that his nephew had found such a great bunch of people to live with. Maybe he _would_ decide not to leave.

"You want to do what?"

"I want to move in. Sally said you had room!"

Martin had calmly asked the coyote if he could move in with him. He expected him to give him a calm and respectable answer. Instead, Antoine was again acting like a snob. He hadn't forgotten about him any more than Martin had forgotten about the coyote.

"Yes I do have ze room. But what makes you think that I would to share a hut with you?"

Martin didn't exactly like Antoine in the first place, but he was a lot more stuck up than he thought. How could the other freedom fighters put up with him?

"I av gotten used to living alone and I must say I quite like it. There is no way at all that I would ever be letting you move in!"

"If you let me move in I'll remodel your house for free."

"Have you packed yet?"

Antoine had always wondered what his hut would look like with a more…….. Cultural look. He had never really liked his hut looking exactly the same as everyone else's.

"No, but all I have is what I'm carrying now."

Antoine was surprised. All Martin had with him was a tool belt and two leather pouches on his back.

"Even your building equipment?"

Martin reached over his shoulders and removed two huge hammers from the leather pouches. They were larger than his arms!

"Yep! I carry all my building equipment with me wherever I go. These hammers are great for bashing up Swat bots too!"

Antoine was amazed. He wouldn't want to go up against Swat bots if he was in a battle tank. But Martin was willing to go up against them with some building hammers!

"Yes, well. When you begin with ze hut, I would like a more cultural look to it. Wallpaper and curtains can only do so much. You may unpack your things now. There are extra bed sheets in ze closet."

At that, Antoine left the hut.

"What a stuck up jerk!" Martin thought," Has he ever heard of please and thank you?"

Despite how much he hated Antoine, Martin had to admit that he had left the hut really neatly. It wouldn't take him long to clear some space for himself.

The sheets weren't hard to find either. As he pulled them from the cupboard, a small yellow stuffed bear fell from its hiding place. He kicked it back into the closet and slammed the door.

"And he doesn't know why people make fun of him?"

Once he was finished with the hut, Martin set to work on his designs. He didn't know what Antoine meant by a more cultural look, since he had been living in the wilderness for so long. So until Antoine wanted to be more specific, he would begin his own project.

"I'd better some supplies from the forest first."

Night had finally fallen in Knothole village. The moonlight glistened on the power ring pool as Sonic the hedgehog gazed into the water.

It wasn't that he didn't like Martin. Apart from his unusual ways of introducing himself he was an ok guy. And if he really was Tails' uncle, then what could be wrong?

But there was something wrong. At least for Sonic. After waiting all his life, tails finally had an idea of who his parents were. He knew what they were like, he knew their names and he even knew where they lived! But Sonic had nothing. All he could remember was life with his uncle Chuck in Mobotropolis. The story he had been told was that his parents were both dead. Tails had gotten what Sonic could never have.

"Are you ok Sonic?"

Tails must have snuck up on Sonic while he was thinking to himself.

"I didn't get a chance to do anything with you today. Where were you?"

Sonic tried his best to look surprised. The last thing he wanted was to show how upset he was to Tails.

"Where was I? Little bro I would have done something with you in a Sonic second, but you were all caught up with Martin. So I didn't want to disturb you."

Tails sat next to his hero as he thought about what had just been said. Was he really so caught up with someone he hardly knew?

"Sonic, what's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong! What could be wrong little bro?"

"Sonic, I can tell there's something wrong. Now tell me."

Sonic just couldn't lie to Tails. They had never had secrets before. Even if Sonic had tried to have secrets with the young fox, he would have been found out sooner or later. Somehow Tails had a knowledge that was beyond his years.

"It's just……….. Martin. Now you know all about your mom and dad. But I can only remember my Uncle Chuck. My parents are dead as far as I know."

Tails stared Sonic right in the face. Where those tears falling from his eyes?

"Sonic, just because Martin came doesn't mean I really know anything about my parents parents. I only knew them when I was a baby, so I can't be sure of anything Martin is saying. In fact my earliest memory is…………"

"Yeah?"

"Well………… do you remember when you first brought me to Knothole?"

"Ha! How could I forget! You sure were a handful little bro!"

"No. I mean the actual day."

"Um. Yeah. Sure."

"Well, in my earliest memory I'm lying down. Then I look up and see you, Sally and Rosie. You all looked really happy."

Laughter echoed all around Knothole. It woke loads of people up, including Princess Sally, who realised what she had forgotten to do before she went to bed. She quickly slipped on her boots and vest, and then went to get Tails so she could put him to bed.

"That's you first memory? That seems like yesterday! Of course me, Sally and Rosie were happy. When we had brought you to Knothole you wouldn't stop crying! The first time we smiled was when you finally calmed down!"

"Aren't you forgetting something Sonic?"

Sally joined her friends at the water's edge and sat down. She felt an urge to comfort Tails, who wasn't feeling very good after what Sonic had just said.

"And what might that be Sal?" Sonic asked.

"All the time he was crying you kept asking Rosie, 'is there something wrong with him? Is he gonna be alright?' You didn't know anything about kids! Admit it! You liked Tails ever since you first saw him!"

Sonic was trying desperately to keep his cool. The last thing he wanted anyone to think was that he had gone soft.

"Well, a little."

"I knew it! Anyway, time for bed Tails."

They just hadn't been paying much attention to Tails that day. While they had been arguing he had fallen asleep! Then again, Sonic and Sally did argue a lot. Maybe he had just blocked it out and gotten board.

"Oh. Don't worry Sal; I'll take him to bed."

Sally was right. Ever since he had found Tails and brought him to Knothole, he had become really attached to him. Tails was already much more than a little brother to Sonic. As he looked back at his memories from before he had found Tails, he thought how weird it must have been without the young fox.

"If this Martin guy ever does anything to hurt you…..."

"You talking about me Sonic?"

As Sonic had been running towards Tails' hut, he hadn't noticed Martin carrying a pile of timber from the forest. As he searched for words to say, Sonic caught Martin smiling at Tails, who was still asleep in Sonic's arms.

"I really wish I had never left home. Then I would have been able to watch my nephew grow up. But his parents ended up dieing! I could have helped them……….."

Sonic put his hand on Martin's shoulder.

"Don't worry man, there's no point in worrying about the past. Besides, I never knew my parents and I turned out ok. So will Tails."

Martin wasn't exactly encouraged by Sonic's attempts to cheer him up. Instead he became worried that his nephew might turn out like Sonic. Then he thought about what he had said. In retrospect he thought, there was still plenty of time to watch Tails grow up.

"Uhhhh. Thanks."

"Don't mention it. What's the timber for anyway?"

"Oh, I'm just building a hut of my own. I can't stand that stupid coyote."

Sonic laughed.

"Neither can I! I had to share a hut with him once. I got so annoyed that I just left!"

Martin laughed so hard he nearly dropped his timber. He figured he would probably have to move fast or his arms would fall under the weight. He waved goodbye to Sonic and continued walking back to Antoine's hut."

"See ya Sonic!"

"See ya Martin! Good luck with Antoine!"

Martin sighed. He thought about how dangerous life with the freedom fighters could get. There would be Swat bots, Stealth bots and the constant threat that Robotnik would find Knothole village. Still, Martin just felt at home there. He had decided. As long as his nephew was happy here, so was he. He would stay where he was and join the fight against Robotnik.

One month later:

Tails was sitting on a log outside of his Uncle's construction site. Martin had been putting all of his free time into building it, so this was the only opportunity Tails ever got to spend time with his uncle.

"Come on Uncle Martin! Why can't I help?"

Martin finished nailing another board into place.

"Sorry Tails, but some of this stuff is dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."

Suddenly, a small beam fell from the net of the house, striking Martin on the head. Tails lay back on his log and laughed out loud.

"Maybe you should spend more time worrying about yourself Uncle Martin!"

As Martin rubbed the sore on his head, he began to think to himself. Tails was probably his last family. He had sworn to himself that no matter what happened, he would always have time to worry about him. If Tails thought he was being unfair, it didn't matter. It was tough love.

"I guess I'm done for the day. Come on Tails. I'll race you to the top of that tree before you go to bed."

Tails leapt off the log and got ready to take off.

"I hope you're ready to lose again Uncle Martin!"

The two began to fly towards the tree as Bunnie and Sally watched them from Sally's hut. They laughed as the two of them battled against one another.

"Ahm so glad that Tails found Martin."

Sally and Bunnie had been best friends for as long as they could remember. They had never been able to keep anything from each other, and that was exactly how Sally felt right now. She could tell in the way Bunnie was looking at Martin that she wasn't thinking about how lucky Tails was at all.

The End?

I'm writing more stories involving Martin, but I wouldn't count them as a series. Maybe I'll do a series some other time.


End file.
